Month: January 2017

Top of the list of my New Year’s Eve libations this year was a cheeky little cocktail called the Lord Suffolk.

Featured in the classic Savoy Cocktail Book from 1930, the Lord Suffolk is a gin based cocktail and believe me, it is deeelicious!!!! It’s so good!

On top of the gin you have herby notes from vermouth, citrus from Cointreau and a nutty flavour from Maraschino liqueur.

This will however knock you flat if you have more than one though so go easy!

I’ve included a cautionary tale via some dating tips from the 1930’s to guide you in the correct etiquette of dealing with the Lord Suffolk so why not make yourself one, sit back, sip up an enjoy!

First Impressions

Him: Is that a nip I see before me? Mummy warned me about loose non-brassièred women like you. Must. Avert. Eyes. OMG, you’ve also got cankles!

Her: Calm down, that’s just my wrinkled stockings.

Pre – Date Chit Chat

Her: I wish I could just tug my girdle around a little bit. I feel it’s making me sit awkwardly. Good thing I have a jawful of Stay Calm Chewing gum or I’d be ready to bury an axe in your boring AF head.

Him: If you snap your gum at me one more time, I’m going to strangle you with my pristine white handkerchief. And BTW you sit like a truck driver with elephantiasis of the testicles. It’s making me weirdly horny.

Out and About

Him: Mummy gave me that hankie. She washed and ironed it specially for me, and now it’s RUINED, you harlot!

Her: If only this was the 21st century where the object I am holding would be a mobile phone and not a compact. I could

a) send a selfie to my bestie asking her if she thinks I should have worn a brassière tonight and,

b) ask her to call me to say she’s had a girdle tugging emergency and needs me to come immediately.

One Lord Suffolk Later

Her: This is the best drink I’ve ever had. Let’s go dance one of those new fangled jitterbugs!

Him: You know, you’re not so bad after all. Waiter, another round of these delightful Lord Suffolk cocktails!

The Dance Floor

Her: You put the boom-boom into my heart, You send my soul sky high when your lovin’ starts
Jitterbug into my brain, Goes a bang-bang-bang ’til my feet do the same. (RIP George Michael!)

Him: STFU! How do you expect me to concentrate on perfecting my moves like Jagger when your incessant idiotic ramblings prevent me from hearing the beat? And whose hat is that?

Like this:

Happy New Year everyone! 2016 was a tough year and I am glad to see the back of it! And what better way to celebrate the turn of the year than with a classic chicken pie! Well, champagne and lobster would have also been grand but chicken pie it was! And Lord Almighty, you have no idea the effort involved in bringing you this chicken pie – direct from the pages of The A-Z of Cooking! This is the third recipe I made from the chapter called Old Favorites.

The first thing I made were some pastries called Maids of Honour, originally made in Tudor Times. I nearly lost my head when I saw the photos of them. They were terrible!!! Totally unusable. So then I made an Apple Pan Dowdy. Terrible name for what was a quite tasty upside down apple cake. I did not take any photos the night I made it and only remembered a couple of days later that I needed to. By which time, the cake was gone!

Left in the chapter was a recipe for Steak and Kidney Pie – I know people eat it and I’m sure it’s delicious. But as far as I’m concerned kidneys are there to absorb waste and make urine – neither of which make me want to pop some in my mouth and chew. There was also a recipe for a Killarney Hot Pot which contained pork belly which is another thing I don’t eat. Finally, there was a recipe for Chicken Pie which I initially ignored because….boring! Then I realised I had everything I needed to make it in the house and voila, chickken pie it was!

This Chicken Pie is actually not boring. It was delicious!!! Making it during a heat wave was probably not my brightest move ever but it was worth it! Seriously, the night I made those pies, I went to bed around 1:00am and it was still 32°C. That’s 89.6°F for my American friends. And is damn hot for the early hours of the morning where ever you are! So you can only imagine how much hotter it was earlier in the day when I was baking the pies!

This was perfectly balanced, chicken and mushroom is always a great combination and this had the perfect amount of wine and cream. I added some fresh chives into my chicken mix and made small pies instead of one large one but otherwise this was exactly as per The A-Z. Well, I used bought pastry instead of making my own – heat wave remember?

This would be a great way to use leftover chicken…just sub it in at the point of mixing. And if you are not fond of mushrooms (I’m looking at you Jenny Hammerton) use whatever vegetables you like – corn, asparagus and or leek would all be super delicious or you could go very traditional and have peas, carrots, celery.

The only downside of this pie, apart from the heat wave, was that for the whole time I made it I was singing that terrible hair band song from the ’90’s “She’s my cherry pie” in my head, except I was subbing in chicken for cherry. Be warned. It could also happen to you! Meaning, now that I have planted that seed it surely will!

All together now

“It’s my chicken pie,

Cool drink of water, such a sweet surprise,

Tastes so good makes a grown man cry,

My chicken pie”

Now that I’ve ruined this, and all future chicken pies for you all, here’s the recipe: